PLYMOUTH MEETING, Pa., March 25, 2013 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- ECRI Institute is pleased to announce it is now accepting submissions to its 8th annual Health Devices Achievement Award program. ECRI Institute (www.ecri.org), an independent, nonprofit organization that researches the best approaches to improving patient care, has recognized healthcare organizations nationwide for the past seven years with its prestigious award for achieving excellence in technology management and patient safety.

"We look forward to receiving our 2013 submissions and learning more about innovative initiatives underway in hospitals, health systems, and other healthcare organizations," says James P. Keller, Jr., vice president, health technology evaluation and safety, ECRI Institute. "We've been extremely impressed with the projects submitted by our past winners, all of whom are making a major impact on improving patient care and patient safety through technology management."

The deadline for submissions for this year's award is June 3, 2013. Entries are accepted online at www.ecri.org/hdaward.

Initiatives may relate to any health technology management endeavor, including:

Patient safety

Technology selection and service

Resource allocation

Hazard and recall management

Staff training

Accreditation

The winning organization will be recognized on the ECRI Institute website, in a feature article in its Health Devices journal, and through press announcements and other publicity initiatives.

Last year's winner, The Johns Hopkins Hospital, Baltimore, MD received the Health Devices Achievement Award for its comprehensive study of alarm desensitization, or "alarm fatigue," a complex and ongoing patient safety challenge.

"We are honored to receive this recognition from ECRI Institute," said Maria Cvach, RN, assistant director of nursing, clinical standards, The Johns Hopkins Hospital. "We're really pleased to be recognized for the work our team has done over the past six years to improve the management of physiological monitor alarms. These efforts have dramatically reduced the number of clinically insignificant alarms and we've created a safer and quieter environment for patients and their care providers."

In 2011, Grand Ronde Hospital, a rural hospital in La Grande, OR, won the award for its groundbreaking telemedicine initiative. Douglas Romer, executive director, patient care services, said, "We are so honored to receive this recognition from ECRI Institute. It's great to be recognized for the work our team has done with our Telemedicine Program." Romer continued, "People in our rural community have had to travel great distances and incur significant expense to access specialty medical care. With telemedicine, our patients are able to receive that care right here at Grande Ronde Hospital, surrounded by their families and other local support systems."

Winners of the Health Devices Achievement Award range from rural hospitals to academic medical centers to large integrated health systems, with initiatives that touch a broad array of health technology issues. These include a groundbreaking total joint replacement registry, improving patient safety related to pediatric chest and abdominal x-rays, and human factors in the use of wireless telemetry.

​About ECRI InstituteECRI Institute, a nonprofit organization, dedicates itself to bringing the discipline of applied scientific research to healthcare to discover which medical procedures, devices, drugs, and processes are best to enable improved patient care. As pioneers in this science for 45 years, ECRI Institute marries experience and independence with the objectivity of evidence-based research. Strict conflict-of-interest guidelines ensure objectivity. ECRI Institute is designated an Evidence-based Practice Center by the U.S. Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality. ECRI Institute PSO is listed as a federally certified Patient Safety Organization by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Find ECRI Institute on Facebook (www.facebook.com/ECRIInstitute) and on Twitter (www.twitter.com/ECRI_Institute). For more information, visit www.ecri.org.